“The ape didn’t steal anything, so no robbery; he didn’t have a motive, unless you count trying to shave someone; and he didn’t murder the people-killed them, sure, but he wasn’t human, so it wasn’t a murder, and that’s also why there wasn’t any crime. And the room wasn’t locked when the ape climbed in, it’s just that the window latched itself shut when he bumped into it while egressing-that’s actually a word, by the way, but I don’t remember if Poe actually uses it. Anyway, there you go.”
Calvin beamed at her with admiration. “Well done, my dear.
Well done, indeed.”
“Nothing was as it appeared to be,” I said softly.
“Right,” she said. “And at the very end of the story, Dupin is talking about the idiotic police detective and says, ‘I am satisfied with having defeated him in his own castle.’ I like that part.” “Defeating him in his own castle…” Calvin mumbled. “I’ll have to remember that. It might make a good title for my next book.”
As we approached the Alcazar Garden, I could see that Calvin’s cab had returned and was already waiting for him. He gazed at his watch and announced, “I do need to be getting on my way. Tessa, my dear, it’s been a pleasure. I look forward to my next lesson in American literature.”
“Read more Poe,” she said. “ The Mystery of Marie Roget and The Purloined Letter, the other Dupin stories. You’ll like ‘em.”
He patted her shoulder, then gripped my elbow in his hand.
“Good luck with this case, my boy. Remember: trust the evidence wherever it takes you. Keep disproving your theories until you uncover the truth.”
“Thanks,” I said. “It was great to see you.”
Then, we said our hurried good-byes, Calvin left, and I realized it was time to confront Tessa about her tattoo.
Lien-hua watched Margaret Wellington pace stiffly back and forth across the conference room floor. Thirty minutes ago, Margaret had asked her to brief her about the case, share her preliminary profile of the abductors, and explain how her foot happened to land in the suspect’s abdomen last night in the warehouse while he was still standing up. It was in light of Lien-hua’s explanation that Margaret had started pacing.
The silence in the room was finally broken when Ralph stepped through the door and announced that the criminalists were processing the warehouse and the suspect’s condo. “Guy’s name is Neville Lewis. Police still haven’t gotten a word out of him. His record comes up clean, but so far we haven’t been able to find any actual people who can vouch for him.”
“Did you run his prints through AFIS?” Margaret asked.
Ralph nodded. “We got nothin’. As far as I can tell he never even jaywalked or cheated on his taxes.” “Wait,” said Lien-hua. “A man who built his own torture chamber and was involved in this sophisticated of a kidnapping has no priors?”
“Doesn’t fly, does it?”
Lien-hua shook her head.
“Well,” said Margaret, “I tend to trust the Automated Fingerprint Identification System over your intuition, Agent Jiang. AFIS doesn’t lie.”
Lien-hua considered that. “Let’s say his records were falsified.
How good would someone have to be to pull off an electronic identity package like that, good enough to fool AFIS?”
“Good,” said Ralph. “Really good.”
“What about witness protection?” Lien-hua glanced back and forth from Ralph to Margaret. “Is it possible Mr. Lewis might be in the program?”
Ralph deferred to Margaret with a shrug.
“Well,” she said. “I doubt it, but I will look into it. Meanwhile, Agent Hawkins, find out from the navy if they’ve located any additional evidence from the site of last night’s fire. If you run into any trouble, just tell them you’re working directly for me.”
“I won’t run into any trouble.”
“And Agent Jiang-” Margaret gave her an innocuous-looking smile-”I would like you to go over the events of last night one more time. Just for the record.”
68
After Tessa and I left Balboa Park we returned to the hotel, and I invited her to take a short walk with me along the beach. Obviously she wasn’t going to bring up her tattoo, so I would have to. The day was sunny, but my mood had turned overcast.
“So Tessa, tell me about your afternoon yesterday, after we left the aquarium.”
“I don’t know. I walked around for a while. I visited some shops and stuff.”
“I thought you hate shopping?”
“Well, I do, but I was just curious, you know, exploring stuff downtown.”
I gave her a chance to say more, but she didn’t take it. “What about last night? Where’d you have supper?”
“I just ate here at the hotel and then I wrote for a little while, read some stuff, and went to bed.”
I waited, wishing she would just tell me. I wanted to hear it from her. “So that’s all you did, then?”
“What is this? Like, an interrogation?” Her voice was becoming surly. “I told you. That’s it.”
I took a tense breath. “Can I at least see the tattoo?”
Confusion ghosting across her face. “What?”
“The tattoo on your arm. I’d like to see it.” I felt my anger rising, not so much that she’d gotten a tattoo-I’d been expecting that for months-but I was getting fed up with her half truths and evasions and disobedience. “You got your nose pierced without asking me. You got your eyebrow pierced without asking me. And now you get a tattoo, which is, by the way, illegal in this state unless you’re eighteen-and not only did you not ask me, just now you lied to me.” “I didn’t lie to you!”
“You told me you just went walking around.”
Her eyes flashed with resolve. Independence. “Oh, so I get it.
It was a setup, huh? Your nice little questions about what I did yesterday. Silly me, I thought you were actually interested in my life. Well, I won’t make that mistake again.”
“Stop it, Tessa. It wasn’t a setup. I was giving you the opportunity to tell me the truth. To be straight with me.”
“Oh. An opportunity. Is that what you call it? And how do you know I went to a tattoo place anyhow?”
“I was worried about you after that deal at the aquarium-”
“I told you that those sharks ate this fish and I went looking for you! Why won’t you believe me? All I knew was that you were in the back somewhere and I was scared.”
“So I decided to check on you,” I continued. “To monitor where you were.”
“To monitor me? Ex cuse me. Am I two years old?” She paused to regroup. To catch her breath. She only needed a moment. “Oh!”
Then, she smacked her satchel into my side, sending her personal items scattering across the sand. “You had me followed!”
“No, Tessa. I didn’t have you followed. Nothing like that.” I bent down to help her gather her things, but she pushed me away.
“Oh, you didn’t have me followed? Then how did you…” As she was sliding her things back into her purse, her hand fell on her cell phone. “Oh… You didn’t… Tell me you did not… Yes, you did-you tracked my cell. The GPS!”
“I wanted to make sure you were OK.”
“You didn’t trust me. I cannot believe you!”
“Trust you? Why should I trust you? You wander around in places I specifically tell you not to go in. You sneak off to get a tattoo. You don’t tell me where you are. You don’t return my phone calls. I’m concerned about you. Don’t you understand? You’re my responsibility.”
“I am not your responsibility!” She snatched up her satchel. “I’m my own responsibility, OK? I grew up without having any dad around to tell me what to do or where to go or whether or not I could get my nose pierced or get a tattoo or whatever. I did fine without a dad before, and I can do fine without-”
“Don’t even say it. Do not say it, Tessa. I thought we were trying to rebuild a family here, and a family depends on trust.”
“But you don’t trust me!”
“Because you haven’t earned it.”
The air bristled between us. She grabbed her sleeve, yanked it up to her shoulder. “You want to see my tattoo? OK, here it is. I got a raven, OK? I got a raven because you sometimes call me Raven and I like it, ‘cause it makes me feel special-or at least it used to.